News &amp; Features - September 2010

Anna Tobey of Loveland, 3, giggles as she and classmates from Loveland Preschool pretend to be transported to the dinosaur times Friday during a presentation by the Dinosaur Lady, Connie Burkhart, at North Lake Park. The preschool celebrated its 43rd birthday at the park Friday.

Kitty, an 8 year-old Siamese cat, looks out the window of her owner Matthew Joy's truck Wednesday while parked along Larimer County Road 31. Joy's other 10 year-old cat Max sits on the passenger seat. Joy said "They've been at the pound for two days so they don't mind this." Joy was evacuated from his home during the Reservoir Raod fire west of Loveland.

Looking a little depressed, Rosie, a German Shepherd, looks up at her owner Mark Stewart as the two relax at the Bison Visitor Center west of Loveland Wednesday. The Stewart family and their pets were evacuated from their home during the Reservoir Road fire.

Courtney Madden gives her seven year-old Dachsund Pippin a kiss Wednesday while hnaging out at the Bison Visitor Center after finding out she and her family can return home after the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.

Land surrounding a home on Turkey Walk Trail is blackened from the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.

Evacuees of the Reservoir Road fire cheer as they learn they can return home Wednesday west of Loveland. Some of the residents from left are Carl Jett in the cowboy hat, Phil Hunger, Tyler DeForge, 11, and his grandmother Helen Grissom.

Charred land and trees surround the Theilgaard family home Wednesday after the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.

A table set up in the lobby of the Loveland Elks Club is loaded with a variety of food for the firefighters resting at the building Wednesday after working at the Reservoir Road fire.

Volunteers, from left, Marilyn Epp, Shirley Brunelli and Roberta Steinwachs assemble sandwiches Wednesday afternoon in the kitchen at the Loveland Elks Club, 103 E. Fourth St., for wildland firefighters who were resting there after working at the Reservoir Road fire.

Resident Amanda Mitchell is refelcted in the rearview mirror of her truck as she gets a first look at the devastation from the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland. She and her husband Josh were among the first group of residents allowed to go back home for a short time to gather belongings and pets.

Patriot Guard Riders line the entrance of Embassy Suites while World War II veterans prepare to take a trip to Washington D.C. Sunday morning in Loveland. (Photo by Gabriel Christus)

Cooper Domanik, 2, and his mother Chris wave goodbye to his great-grandfather as he leaves the Embassy Suites in Loveland for D.I.A. on a trip to Washington D.C. to see the World War II memorial Sunday morning. (Photo by Gabriel Christus)

Rusty Hamill, a World War II veteran with the Navy, stops to talk with Max Ornelas, a Patriot Guard Rider, while his neighbors, Jerry and DeeAnn Ertle walk him into the Embassy Suites Sunday morning in Loveland. (Photo by Gabriel Christus)

Resident Jan Theilgaard locates her house through the smoke and flames burning near Flatiron Reservoir on Sunday. Behind her, neighbor Ron Christensen comforts Karen Jaffe as they wait for word on their homes. Hours later, Christensen learned from aerial news photos that the fire destroyed his home.

Big Thompson Canyon volunteer firefighter Delbert Nussbaum fills a Loveland fire tanker with water from a hydrant at the Bison VisitorÕs Center at Carter Lake. He made several trips with the 1,800-gallon tanker as the fire grew from three to 600 acres by late Sunday.

Mary Moser comforts her golden retriever, Jasper, after they were forced to evacuate from their home near Flatiron Reservoir on Sunday. A wildfire evacuated all residents in a four-mile radius around Reservoir Road from their homes.

Elijah Harold, 14, a volunteer from The Church at Loveland, 3835 SW 14th St., stacks supplies in a room at the church where an American Red Cross evacuation center was set up for people displaced by the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.

Volunteers set up cots Sunday in the auditorium of The Church at Loveland, 3835 SW 14th St., where an American Red Cross evacuation center was established for people displaced by the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland.

American Red Cross worker Sandy Hill, left, assists Terri Washburn at the evacuation center set up at The Church at Loveland, 3835 SW 14th St. on Sunday where individuals affected by the Reservoir Road fire west of Loveland. Washburn is from Anna, Tex., and was seeking information for her sister, who lives in the fire evacuation area, about where displaced pets and animals were being taken.

Volunteers from The Church at Loveland, located at 3835 SW 14th St., help unload supplies from an American Red Cross first-response trailer Sunday at the church where an evacuation center was set up for people displaced by the Reservoir Road fire. From left are Jeremiah Mejia, Thomas Nettersheim, Gabe Mejia, 15, Carl Sheldon, Elijah Harold, 14, and Peter Harold, 16. The trailer had 50 cots, 100 blankets, bottles of water and other supplies to get the shelter started.

Valerie Peek, 12, left, and Alia Jackson, 12, assist Emily Waser as she picks out a free plant at the girls' booth Saturday during Peace in the Park at Foote Lagoon.

Eleven-year-old Kaedyn Cook takes down a bandana he purchased Saturday during the Peace in the Park event that was sold by student council members from Ferguson High School who also decorated the bandanas.